New Page 0

In a bold move to cast a spell over his SABL playoff opponents, Bettendorf Druid Coach Mark Feeney has revealed his true colors:

Actually, this is a historic moment in the SABL. This is the first photo of any SABL coach ever to be published in our newsletter. Of course, you can see most of our other coaches on the wall of your local post office.

River City's Michael Dickerson sank 14 three-pointers in a game this year at Bettendorf, eclipsing the old record of 12 set by the Druid's Darrick Martin vs. Akron in 1997-98.

Ace Grant Hill made 178 defensive stops this year, setting a new league record. He beat by one a record jointly held by Tim Duncan (Garden City) and Anthony Mason (Brooklyn). Mason and Duncan set the previous record in 1998-99.

Jeff Hornacek knows how to make an exit. He sank an mind-boggling .961 percent of his free throws this year for two different SABL teams, easily besting the old SABL record of .933 set by Reggie Miller of the Meade Jayhawks. Hornacek is finishing his SABL career with the Bettendorf Druids.

Besting the .657 FG% set just last year by Galactic's John Stockton, Shaquille O'Neal scored at an unbelievable .682 percent this season. Of course, his free throw percentage was a miserable .500, so it kinda evens out.

In a year that saw a giant increase in league scoring, St. Lucie scored an average of 126 PPG, a new league record, besting by an big 5 PPG their previous SABL record set two years ago by the same St. Lucie Aces, who went on that year to win the SABL championship.

The Akron Blimps took down 71 rebounds vs. Richmond on Feb. 7, setting a new SABL record.

Our previous 3-point team record was set a couple of years ago by the Evil Druids with 25 in a game. This season, that record was bested an amazing six times. The new record for most three-pointers in a game by a team is an incredible 42, by Bettendorf, our three-point experts, vs. River City on Jan. 22.

I haven't compiled the numbers, but it's safe to say the the Druids have sank more three-point shots than any other team in SABL history. For the the last three season, the Druids have dominated three-point shooting, elevating it to an art that any real-life NBA team would envy.

Eric Snow of the Swish tied a record set last year by Allen Iverson by getting nine steals in a game vs. Galactic on Jan. 18.

The following includes penalty point adjustments. Where won-lost records were tied, penalty points were used to break the ties. Also, divisional winners draft last. And this order is not final - the 2001 SABL champion will draft last and we don't know yet which of the 12 playoffs teams will win the championship:

1. Brooklyn 2. Iowa 3. Tulsa 4. Chapel Hill 5. Holcomb 6. Garden City 7. River City 8. McLean 9. Davenport 10. Finney 11. Akron 12. Bettendorf 13. San Jose 14. Richmond 15. Miles 16. Galactic 17. Tri City 18. Sublimity 19. East Asia 20. St. Lucie

The rumor sweeping through the SABL was confirmed today as the Bettendorf Druids began practice for their playoff matchup against their arch-rivals, the Miles Bulldogs. Druids owner Mark Feeney has shaved his head. Why, however, is anyone's guess.

"I'm not going to talk about my hair -- or lack of it," Feeney said at a hastily called news conference. "You guys can make up any stories you like.

My team and I are focusing on the playoffs. Besides that Jordan guy in Washington owns part of a team and he shaves his head. What's the big deal? Bald is beautiful."

"I heard that he had an agreement with the team that if we made the playoffs again, he'd shave his head," Davis said. "But I heard that from some of the fans during the River City series, so I don't know how true it is."

Next, Mookie Blaylock shot down a rumor that he and the owner had some kind of a wager.

"The buzz was that he'd shave his head if I had more steals than turnovers while I was on the Druids. Supposedly, I would have had to let my hair grow until camp next fall if I didn't. Well, there was no deal. It would have been close, but I think I wouldn't be shaving now if there had been."

Asked about Hitler youth, Blaylock said, "You mean those Maquoketa Nazis. I hate Maquoketa Nazis. But Feeney doesn't have anything to do with them."

So once again, it looks as if Chad "Yinka" Dare and the electronic media have exaggerated the situation. There is one more rumor, however. This one won't be proven or debunked until the first playoff game. The rumor says Feeney intends to shave extremely close, oil up his head with a special glistening agent and sit in a particular spot in the arena. Then a roving spotlight would light up his noggin everytime former Druids Glenn Rice or Jeff Hornacek tried to take a shot. Supposedly, the light would be aimed so that the reflection always would hit the shooter's eyes just before the release point, distracting him.

SABL Commissioner Scott Ellis reportedly is investigating whether such a light would be legal and whether Feeney should be banned from all playoff games.

"That wouldn't bother me much," Davis said. "He's always trying to coach in the locker room at halftime. He's a great owner, but most of his strategic ideas reek."

And if you want to back up your SABL stats first, do it BEFORE you restart our league. Or, you can rely on the ingenious commissioner and his marvelous SABL website for regular season stats.

Almost missed this one: River City set a new SABL record this year for most points scored in a half - an incredible 91, at Bettendorf on Jan. 22. River City, coached by Mike Resnick, beat the Evil Druids, coached by Mark Feeney, 122-101, in an overtime thriller.

Of course that also means Mike's team only scored 31 points in the first half of that game.

Even though we still have a few regular season games outstanding, our SABL playoff picture is now clear. In the Royal Conference we have these playoff teams: East Asia, Miles, Richmond, Tri City, Bettendorf and Davenport.

In the Classic Conference, we have St. Lucie, Galactic, McLean, Sublimity, San Jose and Finney. Here's how the brackets work out, as per the SABL Constitution:

As fate would have it, the Evil Druids take on the forces of light in Round One, the Miles Bulldogs. The winner of that series, and all playoff series in the SABL are best of seven games, will take on North Division winner Tri City.

At the top of the Royal Conference bracket, the Dazzlers do battle with perennial playoff contender Richmond for the right to take on the defending Royal Conference champ, East Asia.

In the Classic Conference, McLean and Finney will duke it out to see who takes on the South Division champion St. Lucie Aces, while San Jose and Galactic will fight for the right to challenge West Division winner Sublimity.

Once you have completed your regular season games (McLean and Richmond), go ahead and start playing your playoff games! It's really March Madness in the SABL now!

All games are best of seven and the team with the best record has home court advantage. That means, for example, in the Richmond vs. Davenport series, it's two games at Richmond, three games at Davenport and if needed, two more games at Richmond.

The only exception is for divisional winners. When they are involved, they always get home court advantage. For instance, in the East Asia bracket, it will be two games in East Asia, three games at Davenport or Richmond, then 2 games back at East Asia.

If divisional winners play each other, then the team with the best regular season record will have home court advantage.

If you want to play face-to-face, that's cool. If you want to play over the phone, that's cool, too. It doesn't matter how you do it as long as both coaches agree. Like Nike says, just do it!

Please send me and your opponent game files, box scores and summaries of all your playoffs games. Remember that there are no minute restrictions in the playoffs. Just choose your 12 players and let 'er rip!

A few regular season games are still outstanding and the 2001 draft order can't be posted on our site until I get those games into our official SABL records. As soon I get 'em, I'll get the draft order up there.

But remember - the SABL champion drafts last and we won't know who that is until the playoffs are over, so the draft order is not final until the playoffs are over.

As soon as our last few regular season games are played, final 2000-01 SABL stats will be posted on our website. Stay tuned.

A sweep of Holcomb in their final series of the year puts Coach Marc Schlotthauer in the West Division championship seat with a 47-35 record. Congratulations to Marc, who joins St. Lucie, Tri City and East Asia as this year's SABL divisional winners. These four teams will get a bye in the first round of our SABL playoffs as their reward for a great season.

East Asia (70-12) and St. Lucie (72-10) won 70 games or more this season while Galactic (68-14) was the only other team to win more than 60 games.

Congratulations to Amazing Chris Feeney, who coached the Tri-City Blackhawks to their second divisional win in a row. Chris joins the Aces and East Asia as divisional kings this year. Now only the West Division is still being contested, and it's going down the last four games Sublimity plays this year at home vs. Holcomb, a team on the playoff bubble.

Once the last few regular season games get played, we'll have our playoff brackets up and the 2001 SABL Playoffs will be underway!

We now go live to Bettendorf, Iowa, with an exclusive story. Our own Chad Yinka Dare is at the scene with this startling news. Chad, what can you tell us?

"Well, Paula, rumor has it that Mark Feeney, owner of the playoff-bound Bettendorf Druids, has shaved his head. Sources say the Evil Druid is planning a full-scale war on the rest of the SABL playoff teams. I'm standing here with Tom Jargo, owner of the Miles Bulldogs."

Jargo: "What would you expect from the president of the Bettendorf Hitler Youth. The guy will do anything to win the SABL championship."

People within Feeney's inner circle claim incantations are a nightly site at the Evil Druid's Bettendorf flat. Animals and neighbor children have been disappearing. And here is the Evil Druid's brother, Chris Feeney:

C.Feeney: "He's put some sort of curse on me. Of course, he's been cursing me since we were kids. He's cursed all of us. Not even God can save us from pure evil."

Walters: "If the Druids make it to the finals, my team will be destroyed. I can say that, because of course my team will easily make it to the SABL finals. I have no competition en route to the big show."

Rumors are circulating that Walters has made a pact with the devil -- uh, I mean, the Evil Druid -- in order to secure a spot in the SABL finals. Walters refused to comment on those rumors.

Paula, I'm going to attempt to talk to the Evid One. I'll just stroll up to the front door, knock innocently, and ------ OH, MY GOD! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Commissioner released from asylum

SABL Commissioner Scott Ellis was released from the local mental institution early this month after a horrifying two weeks in a rubber room, courtesy of arch-rival Steve Walters, coach of the Galactic Thunder.

Desperate to keep his South Division crown as the season ends with St. Lucie still slightly on top, Walters obtained forged commitment papers from Ace arch-enemy Eric Everage to knock Ellis out of the action for the second time in the last 30 days.

"Anything we can do to slow down the Evil Empire must be tried," Everage said as he hopped a plane just minutes ahead of the authorities, on his way to join buddy Mark Rich in exile in Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Walters attorney Johnnie Cochran once again got Walters off the hook, claiming it was his client who was actually temporarily insane, depressed because he might lose the South Division title. Cochran claimed Ellis was fabricating evidence and disseminating lies to implicate his client.

"Ellis is just staging this whole thing to gain sympathy and divert attention from his continuing efforts to get all the NBA All-Stars on his team," Cochran said. "Steve was just trying to commit himself and was so balmy , he put Scott's name on the papers by mistake. It coulda' happened to anybody. Innocent mistake."

The reclusive Ellis is now in hiding in Howard Hughes' old hotel penthouse in Las Vegas, surviving on tubs of his favorite Baskin-Robbins' ice cream, Chocolate Chip Mint and guarded by the meanest Mormons you ever saw.

But seriously . . .

I know some of you were concerned about my latest absence and I thank you for your emails and phone calls. Actually, I'm quite fine, just very busy with work, getting my MCSE computer certification and my latest computer upgrade. I think I'm past all that now and ready to catch everyone up on the season-ending games.

I am assessing myself two penalty points for this absence and the one I had last month. Sorry I was away, but I'm back now with a vengeance. Let's get our last few games played NOW!

Autoplay Garden City for all remaining games

Garden City Coach Josh Marquardt has a new job and is moving into a new house, so he's too busy to play his SABL games right now. Please autoplay the Gladiators for any remaining games you have with them, both home and away.,

February stats, standings, leaders, etc, now posted

Check it out and enjoy!

East Asia and Aces capture divisional titles

For the second year in a row, the East Asia Dragons, coached by Paul Bennett, have captured the SABL East Division crown. Congratulations Mr. Bennett. Can Paul repeat as Royal Conference Champs, too? Stay tuned.

In the South, the St. Lucie Aces have cinched the division, holding off last year's South winner and SABL champion, Galactic Thunder.

For both franchises it was a record sixth divisional title.

The races in the other three divisions are still too close to call. Tri-City and Bettendorf are dueling for the North, while San Jose, Sublimity and Finney and fighting in the West.

Penalty point report

Now the part of my commissioner's duties that I like the least, assessing penalty points. Please let me know ASAP if I've made an error. Here's the current tally:

Garden City - 13 points total. Garden City drops four places down in next year's draft.

2 points for no results for Feb. 10 GAR vs. HOL series

2 points for no instructions or results for Feb. 5 STL vs. GAR series

2 points for no instructions for Garden City at Sublimity, Jan. 24

3 points for no instructions and no results for the Garden City-Chapel Hill series on Jan. 10

1 for no results for San Jose at Garden City, Jan. 4

1 for no results for Bettendorf at Garden City, Dec. 12

1 for no results for River City at Garden City, Dec. 9

1 for no results for Tri City at Garden City, Dec. 11

Akron - 7 points total. Akron drops down two places in next year's draft:

1 point for no results for East Asia at Akron, Jan. 1

1 point for no results for Dec. 7, Chapel Hill at Akron

2 points for no results or instructions for Dec. 7, Galactic vs. Akron

1 point for no results for Dec. 7, McLean at Akron

1 point for no results for Dec. 7, St. Lucie at Akron

1 points for no results for Dec. 7, Akron at Tulsa

St. Lucie - 3 points total. St. Lucie drops down one place in next year's draft.

For sending out a defective SABL league disk for January games.

For not being available for three weeks in February and March

Chapel Hill - 2 points total.

2 points for no instructions and no results for the Garden City-Chapel Hill series on Jan. 10

Bettendorf - 2 points total.

2 points for no results for Dec. 12, Bettendorf vs. San Jose, both games

River City - 1 point total.

1 point for no results for Brookyln at River City series on Jan. 15

THE BROOKLYN EAGLE

TIM FLOYD GETS 1 YEAR CONTRACT

Tim Floyd dragged the Tigers to a 2-18 finish and was rewarded with Brooklyn’s first guaranteed contract. The season ending included a 13 game losing streak, yet Floyd demonstrated he can also coach. In the final series at home vs The Druids Brooklyn played three tough games. In game one, down 24 at the half, the Tigers clawed to within 6 points in the fourth before dropping the game as Bettendorf sank to many 3 pointers (20-38 from the arc) pulled away (123-111). In Game 2 The Druids won in OT (103-99), scoring only 6 pts, but the Tigers were held to 2, turning the ball over constantly. Lamar Odom just missed Brooklyn’s 1^st triple-double of the season (17 reb., 10 ast., 9 pts., - on shooting a pathetic 1-12 from the field and 7-12 from the line. The Tiger’s ended the season on a winning note (118-103). Trailing 84-79 at the end of the 3^rd, Brooklyn outscored Bettendorf 39-19 in the 4^th. Mobley average 24.7 ppg, Odom 20.3 ppg- 12 rpg. in the series. Nesby led Bettendorf with 17.3 ppg.

Tiger management is brimming with optimism for next season, with the sluggish finish they stand a chance for the top draft pick. If they can pick up a big man to replace Brand, (Trent never quite made it back this season), along with Odom and Mobley’s scoring ability, a solid season from Malik Rose and adequate floor management from Jeff McInnis Brooklyn may is hoping to approach .500 next season.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL IN THE PLAYOFFS - from STEVE FELDHEIM

McLEAN TAKES THREE OF FOUR AT HOME FROM TULSA

The Nats finished their home schedule by taking three of four, 119-92, 80-95, 114-90, and 121-105. Jerry Stackhouse averaged 30 point in the series, and, in an oddity, hit exactly ten free throws in each game (40 of 44 in the series). Jalen Rose pitched in, averaging 23.5 and shooting 72 percent in the series. the only trouble they had was in game two, when they were slowed down by 27 turnovers. The Twisters had only two twenty point scorers in the series, Tim Hardaway with 23 in game three, and David Wesley with 22 in game four. Tulsa did try to bomb from long range, hitting 33 of 88 three point attempts, but it was a case of "too little, too far".

GARDEN CITY TAKES 2 OF 3 IN McLEAN

Three close games. McLean scores one more point than the Gladiators. Stackhouse outscores Duncan by one. Garden City wins two, 118-112 and 112-109 before losing 131-121. Duncan's 45 led the Glads in the first game as Stackhouse was "held" to 38. Duncan had 29 in game two, but the difference was that Garden City had only six turnovers. In game three, Stackhouse had 38, Van Exel 24 plus 11 assists, and the Nats came back from a 14 point halftime deficit to trump Duncan's 32.

Florida Strat World Presents The:

Second American Basketball League

SABL

League Leaders Past NewslettersRecords All-Stars

Standings/Team Highs Members Rosters & Stats2001 Draftable Players 2000-01 League Disk

E-mail The Commissioner 2001-02 Constitution 2001-2002 Schedule Of Events

Past Draft Results TradesDraft Preview 2000 2000-01 Season Preview

Team Summaries SABL Minutes 2001 League Totals2000 Draft Histories

Florida Strat World Presents The:

Second American Basketball League

SABL

League LeadersPast NewslettersRecordsAll-Stars

Standings/Team Highs MembersRosters & Stats2001 Draftable Players2000-01 League Disk

E-mail The Commissioner 2001-02 Constitution2001-2002 Schedule Of Events

Past Draft Results TradesDraft Preview 20002000-01 Season Preview

Team SummariesSABL Minutes 2001League Totals2000 Draft Histories

League Leaders Past NewslettersRecords All-Stars

Standings/Team Highs Members Rosters & Stats2001 Draftable Players 2000-01 League Disk

E-mail The Commissioner 2001-02 Constitution 2001-2002 Schedule Of Events

Past Draft Results TradesDraft Preview 2000 2000-01 Season Preview

Team Summaries SABL Minutes 2001 League Totals2000 Draft Histories